Area code information

22 April 2009 - national expansion to 8 digits

Existing 7-digit nicaragua national subscriber numbers were expanded
to 8 digits on 22 April 2009.

Digit '2' was prepended to wireline/fixed numbers, and '8'
to mobile/wireless numbers. There was no permissive period for
the change.

Previous reports suggested the change would have occurred on 1 April 2009.
A permissive use of old and new dialling until 30 June 2009 was previously
suggested, though by now was replaced with a splash cut change.

General notes

There had been an area code / subscriber number system in previous
years. This involved use of trunk prefix '0' followed by area code
and subscriber number for domestic long distance calls. However,
the current system is based on a consistent national 7-digit format.
Trunk prefix remains '0', which is used in cases of long distance
or mobile calls. The conversion was reported to be completed in the
mid-1990s.

The available numbering information from regulator
TELCOR is in Spanish.
Therefore, information for Nicaragua is dependent upon approximate
translations.

December 2003 - update and background information

Report on Nicaragua, from December 2003, courtesy Eddy Stevens:

"The former system in effect until the mid 90s, consisted of 1 to 4 digit
city codes and subscriber numbers ranging from 3 to 6 digits. The conversion
to the current numbering plan was gradual and the process utilized depended
on the original number of digits that made up the phone number.

For the most part, this was a simple process because most telephone numbers
consisted of a sequence of 6 or 7 numbers once the city code was included.

In the Managua Metro area, which was the only city with a 1 digit city code,
the conversion to 6 digit phone numbers began in 1988 by repeating the
leading digit of the old 5 digit phone numbers. Thus, '70221' became
'770221'. In cities that had a 2 digit city code, all three and four digit
phone numbers such as Nandaime's '251' or Granada's '4472' were
standardized at 5 digits by adding one or a couple of '2s', becoming
'22251' or '24472'. In cities that had a 3 digit city code, the 4 digit
phone numbers where left unchanged, but the three digit numbers were added a
'2' as the leading digit.

After this process was completed in the mid 90s, the 7 digit numbering plan
went into effect by requiring all local callers to dial their own city codes
before the actual number. Thus, to reach '24472' from within Granada, you
were required to dial the city code "52" and then the number for a final 7
digit combination of '5224472'. This affected local dialing, but did not
affect callers from other parts of the country or overseas callers, as you
would still dial '0' and then '5224472' from any other part of Nicaragua or
'+505 5224472' from overseas.

The '0'+7 digits format is still used to dial domestic long distance and
for ALL cell phone calls.

Cellular numbers are national and are not assigned to a specific
geographic area.

Cellular prefixes start with the digit '8' and are carrier specific
(for example, Bellsouth Mobility uses the range 863-XXXX to 877-XXXX
regardless of what city you are in). This is the reason you have to dial
a '0' when dialing cellular numbers. This also results in calls from a
landline to a cell phone being treated and billed as domestic long
distance, which results in huge profits for the landline monopoly, ENITEL.

Cell-cell and cell-landline calls only use airtime, not long distance.
In addition, incoming calls on a cell phone do not use up airtime minutes,
only outgoing calls do... so many people are choosing to disconnect their
landlines, just as in the US.

Emergency services take a form reversed to that used in the US... Where 119
serves as 911, etc."